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The Travel Thread

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Lickle eric said:
Still plenty to see and do i,m sure.
Enjoy.
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What little I've seen of it so far tells me I'm going to really enjoy being here. It's a shame that our first full day here has been blighted by the weather and my wife being unwell. Nothing to do with the food - she was unwell before we flew out here.

At least being in bed most of the day means she hasn't had to watch the rain coming down!
 
TyphooToffee said:
What little I've seen of it so far tells me I'm going to really enjoy being here. It's a shame that our first full day here has been blighted by the weather and my wife being unwell. Nothing to do with the food - she was unwell before we flew out here.

At least being in bed most of the day means she hasn't had to watch the rain coming down!
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Hope she feels better tomorrow and the weather bucks up a bit otherwise you may be forced into testing san miguel.
 
Medellin was great.

Did 10 days in Quito (with an overnight stay in a nature reserve about 70 miles away and a hike up a portion of Cotopaxi Volcano from 4,500m to 5,000 and a week in Guayaquil, Ecuador over the holdiays. Weird seeing US money being used in South America, weirder still was they had their own Ecuadorian coin that were used in conjunction US ones.

Stopped in Cali for a couple nights before heading back home.

Short version, Quito was awesome, Guayaquil could have been trimmed down to 3 or 4 easily. Cali at 2-3 days is about right.
 

obc said:
Medellin was great.

Did 10 days in Quito (with an overnight stay in a nature reserve about 70 miles away and a hike up a portion of Cotopaxi Volcano from 4,500m to 5,000 and a week in Guayaquil, Ecuador over the holdiays. Weird seeing US money being used in South America, weirder still was they had their own Ecuadorian coin that were used in conjunction US ones.

Stopped in Cali for a couple nights before heading back home.

Short version, Quito was awesome, Guayaquil could have been trimmed down to 3 or 4 easily. Cali at 2-3 days is about right.
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Thats sounds awesome.
 
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obc said:
Medellin was great.

Did 10 days in Quito (with an overnight stay in a nature reserve about 70 miles away and a hike up a portion of Cotopaxi Volcano from 4,500m to 5,000 and a week ini Guayaquil, Ecuador over the holdiays. Weird seeing US money being used in South America, weirder still was they had their own Ecuadorian coin that were used in conjunction US ones.

Stopped in Cali for a couple nights before heading back home.

Short version, Quito was awesome, Guayaquil could have been trimmed down to 3 or 4 easily. Cali at 2-3 days is about right.
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I wish I could have afforded holidays like that when I was young enough and fit enough. Now I'm retired and (via my wife's inheritance) wealthy enough, I'm too old and unfit (knees!) to do it!
 
jackyboy said:
Chaps, going to Budapest with the lads next month.

Any shouts for any particularly good bars, I know ruin pubs are meant to be the thing to do there.

Have been once before but was with my girlfriend so a bit of a different vibe.
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Was there in October, really liked Szimpla Kert. Central courtyard with about 7 bars surrounding it and about 5 bars upstairs, Karavan Street Food is next door, perfect for something to soak the drink up. Jonas' Craft Beer House is excellent if you're into that sort of thing and sits right on the Danube, ideal for a few beers outside on a nice day.
Enjoy your trip, great city.
 
centralTon said:
Was there in October, really liked Szimpla Kert. Central courtyard with about 7 bars surrounding it and about 5 bars upstairs, Karavan Street Food is next door, perfect for something to soak the drink up. Jonas' Craft Beer House is excellent if you're into that sort of thing and sits right on the Danube, ideal for a few beers outside on a nice day.
Enjoy your trip, great city.
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That is exactly the sort of stuff I was after, cheers fella.

Basically hipstering it up, but we're not really the hardcore clubbing types haha.
 

jackyboy said:
Chaps, going to Budapest with the lads next month.

Any shouts for any particularly good bars, I know ruin pubs are meant to be the thing to do there.

Have been once before but was with my girlfriend so a bit of a different vibe.
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The Cech in is good, Czech beer obviously, and not far from the ruin bars is a place owned by an olympic champion (I think) he's not changed anything for 30 odd years since he opened it , my kind of place.
 
TyphooToffee said:
I wish I could have afforded holidays like that when I was young enough and fit enough. Now I'm retired and (via my wife's inheritance) wealthy enough, I'm too old and unfit (knees!) to do it!
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As someone wiser than I once said, "Wealth is wasted on the rich."

In our case, we're not wealthy but found The Big Loophole. She's a teacher and after our trips to Europe about a decade ago (which we saved years to afford, mind you), started applying like mad for teaching abroad positions. Lived in Paraguay for 3 years, opening up Brazil and "The Cone" of South America, now live in Bogota.

Which means a 4-night trip to Medellin, flight, lodging, food, beer and daytrips cost less than one ticket from Arizona to Europe. Our airBNB in Quito, a really nice 1br apartment on the 10th floor of a new building was something like $42/night. So we're able to do a hell of a lot more for a heck of a lot less.

I telecommute so "have wifi, can work"... still logged a good amount of hours in the mornings during our trips.

While the travel is great, the lifestyle is not without sacrifices. Everything I own, minus TV, PS4 and washer/dryer fits into two suitcases, a proper hiking backpack and my carry-on luggage. If it doesn't, well, adios to something. Bogota has a lot more going for it as a place than Asuncion, but as a city of 9m or so, after six months I still feel entirely anonymous. About this time in Paraguay I was hitting stride and, thanks to the one remaining adult Blue in country, started making friendships that will last. Any night I wanted to hit The Hop, I knew I had friends there. Here, the closest I have are the guys at the tienda (bodega/minimart) next door warmly greeting with with the "AMERICA!" welcome when I come in for water or Aguila (beer-flavored water.)


And watch the (knees!) comment. After 3.5 years in South America, we finally booked a trip to Machu Picchu for June... and my knee has been acting up. Just an annoying twinge walking about town... but walking about town isn't 10km a day up and down hills at 3,000meters+ altitude.
 

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